United Nations Development Programme

Employers in Serbia now receive tax benefits for employing persons with disabilities. Photo: Centre for Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities, Serbia.

When I was first posted to Serbia in 2001, the country and its people were still shaken and scarred by years of conflict. Returning in 2009 to lead the United Nations presence there, I was deeply impressed by the swift and substantive progress made.

Belgrade had new trams and buses, neighborhoods and parks had been refurbished, and efforts to consolidate democracy, build a more inclusive economy, and establish credible mechanisms to fight corruption were well under way.

In the all-important sphere of governance and rule of law, Serbia now has its own Ombudsman, who has already addressed thousands of complaints, a Supreme Audit Institution that has conducted dozens of probes, a Public Procurement Office that is reducing risk and vulnerability, and a freedom of information agency that is spearheading free speech and citizen engagement.

Life is getting better, to be sure, and the Government has made tremendous strides in supporting some of its most vulnerable citizens, but more than 25 percent of the working-age population is unemployed. The new government’s principal task in 2013 is to support job creation, in an economy hit hard by the global financial downturn.